One thrift store shopper recently spotted a suspicious luxury brand item for sale at Goodwill and felt compelled to share it with the r/ThriftGrift subreddit.
In their post, the original poster attached a few pictures of a woman's silver Rolex brand watch, along with the secondhand store's exorbitant price tag of $2,500, writing nothing more than, "Yikes…… I hope no one falls for this."
Without much more of an explanation, the original poster sparked a lively discussion in the comments section.
Despite little contact, commenters were quick to decipher the ambiguity of the OP's post, immediately insinuating the product's inauthenticity.
"You can context Rolex…they're hardcore about fakes and will make the store give it to them to be destroyed," one commenter offered.
The OP replied that this was not the first time they had seen a fake Rolex watch at the thrift shop. However, the counterfeit watches they had encountered in the past were "priced accordingly at a price no higher than $40 USD."
"They're selling a fake Rolex for $2,500?!?!" another commenter asked in utter disbelief.
Beyond the fact that Goodwill, a well-known thrift store network, was selling a secondhand item outrageously priced at over $2,000, the product was a counterfeit, which violates counterfeit goods laws.
Thrift shops offer consumers the chance to shop for everyday household necessities, as well as rare and valuable vintage items, for a fraction of the cost of brand-new items. Thrifting also helps keep still-usable products from going to waste in the landfill.
One thrift shopper found a used Herman Miller Aeron computer chair — a high-end office chair that retails for close to $2,000 brand new — for only $25 at their local thrift shop.
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Cheaper clothes 🤑 Another thrift shopper purchased an outdoor backpack from their local Goodwill for $12 that contained more than $500 worth of outdoor gear inside it, including a $200 Thermarest sleeping pad and a $200 Marmot sleeping bag.
Even if thrift shoppers do not score used name-brand or luxury products at the thrift store all the time, they can still walk away with affordable finds that help them stretch their budgets while finding products that meet their needs.
It's safe to say that a counterfeit luxury brand watch priced at $2,500 at the local thrift shop is neither a good find nor an ethical score by any means.
These instances where thrift shops prioritize company profits over meeting the needs of their customer base can turn customers away from thrift shopping, choosing to buy new instead of recycling still-usable products. Fortunately, these fraudulent schemes are few and far between, and are diligently exposed by concerned thrift shoppers on the r/ThriftGrift subreddit.
"Damn even Faulex prices are wild," one commenter joked.
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